Methods, systems, and computer program products for grooming traffic on a shared network facility based on a peak utilization analysis of the shared network facility

ABSTRACT

A communication network is operated by monitoring a bandwidth utilization of a shared network resource, performing a statistical analysis to determine a mean utilization peak and/or a utilization peak coefficient of variance, monitoring a bandwidth utilization of lines, ports, and/or channels associated with the shared network resource, performing a statistical analysis to determine a percentage M of the lines, ports, and/or channels whose consumption of bandwidth exceeds a first threshold percentage of the mean utilization peak, and determining whether to groom traffic carried by the shared network resource based on the mean utilization peak, the utilization peak coefficient of variance, and/or the percentage M.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 60/862,911, filed Oct. 25, 2006, the disclosureof which is hereby incorporated herein by reference as if set forth inits entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to communication networks and methods ofoperating the same, and, more particularly, to methods, system, andcomputer program products for grooming traffic on a shared networkfacility.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Time-to-market pressure, stringent Service Level Agreement (SLA)requirements, slim product margins, and reduced capital equipmentbudgets may combine to make it difficult for network service providersto provision their networks so as to efficiently process trafficthereon. Because adding resources to increase bandwidth can beexpensive, service providers often use existing records, crude linelength calculations, and/or manual spot testing techniques to identifyproblematic lines/ports/channels for the purpose of generating anetwork-grooming proposal. Network service providers often search forcost-effective solutions that can allow them to automate the process ofbandwidth utilization “avoidance” or bandwidth “shifting” to smooth outbandwidth demand and consumption. Even if the cost of bandwidthcontinues to fall, it may not always be desirable to buy more bandwidthin response to network congestion. Moreover, unexpected spikes inbandwidth usage may indicate an internal or external security threat,such as a Denial of Service (DOS) attack. As a result, simply addingresources in response to peak bandwidth usage may merely be covering upan underlying network problem.

SUMMARY

According to some embodiments of the present invention, a communicationnetwork is operated by monitoring a bandwidth utilization of a sharednetwork resource, performing a statistical analysis to determine a meanutilization peak and/or a utilization peak coefficient of variance,monitoring a bandwidth utilization of lines, ports, and/or channelsassociated with the shared network resource, performing a statisticalanalysis to determine a percentage M of the lines, ports, and/orchannels whose consumption of bandwidth exceeds a first thresholdpercentage of the mean utilization peak, and determining whether togroom traffic carried by the shared network resource based on the meanutilization peak, the utilization peak coefficient of variance, and/orthe percentage M.

In other embodiments, monitoring the bandwidth utilization of the sharednetwork resource comprises monitoring the bandwidth utilization of theshared network resource over a time period periodically at a definedfrequency.

In still other embodiments, the time period is greater than one day andthe frequency is about once every 15 minutes.

In still other embodiments, monitoring the bandwidth utilization of thelines, ports, and/or channels comprises monitoring the bandwidthutilization of the lines, ports, and/or channels if the mean utilizationpeak exceeds a second threshold percentage.

In still other embodiments, the first threshold percentage is about 50%and the second threshold percentage is about 75%.

In still other embodiments, the method further comprises categorizingthe shared network resource into one of the following categories:category A if P is greater than about 75% of Um and Cp is greater thanabout 15%; category B if P is greater than about 75% of Um and Cp isless than about 15%; category C if P is less than about 75% of Um and Mis less than about 25%; category D if P is less than about 75% of Um andM is greater than about 25%, but less than about 50%; category E if P isless than about 75% of Um and M is greater than about 50%, but less thanabout 70%; and category F if P is less than about 75% of Um and M isgreater than about 70%; wherein Um is a maximum possible bandwidthutilization of the shared network resource, P is the mean utilizationpeak, and Cp is the utilization peak coefficient of variance.

In still other embodiments, determining whether to groom the trafficcarried by the shared network resource comprises determining whether togroom traffic based on a number of shared resources in the communicationnetwork that have been categorized in categories A, B, and/or C.

In still other embodiments, the method further comprises grooming thetraffic carried by the shared network resource if the number of sharedresources in category A is greater than zero or if the sum of thenumbers of shared resources in categories B and C is greater than about35% and less than about 50% of all the shared resources in thecommunication network.

In still other embodiments, grooming the traffic comprisesre-provisioning at least one of the lines, ports, and/or channelsassociated with the shared network resource.

In still other embodiments, re-provisioning at least one of the lines,ports, and/or channels associated with the shared network resourcecomprises selecting the at least one of the lines, ports, and/orchannels that has a lower than average bandwidth utilization and has alower than average peak bandwidth utilization.

Although described primarily above with respect to method embodiments ofthe present invention, it will be understood that the present inventionmay be embodied as methods, systems, and/or computer program products.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features of the present invention will be more readily understoodfrom the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments thereofwhen read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a communication network that illustrates methods,systems, and computer program products for grooming traffic on a sharednetwork facility based on a peak utilization analysis of the sharednetwork facility in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a data processing system that can be usedto implement the traffic grooming function of FIG. 1 in accordance withsome embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a hardware/software architecture for thetraffic grooming function of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodimentsof the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart that illustrates operations grooming traffic on ashared network facility based on a peak utilization analysis of theshared network facility in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit theinvention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, theinvention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternativesfalling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by theclaims. Like reference numbers signify like elements throughout thedescription of the figures.

As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. Itwill be further understood that the terms “includes,” “comprises,”“including,” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification,specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will be understood thatwhen an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” toanother element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the otherelement or intervening elements may be present. Furthermore, “connected”or “coupled” as used herein may include wirelessly connected or coupled.As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

The present invention may be embodied as systems, methods, and/orcomputer program products. Accordingly, the present invention may beembodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, residentsoftware, micro-code, etc.). Furthermore, the present invention may takethe form of a computer program product on a computer-usable orcomputer-readable storage medium having computer-usable orcomputer-readable program code embodied in the medium for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system. In the context of thisdocument, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be anymedium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport theprogram for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device.

The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example butnot limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagationmedium. More specific examples (a nonexhaustive list) of thecomputer-readable medium would include the following: an electricalconnection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM). Note that thecomputer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper oranother suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as theprogram can be electronically captured, via, for instance, opticalscanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, orotherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then storedin a computer memory.

For purposes of illustration, some embodiments of the present inventionare described herein with respect to a communication network that usesSignaling System 7 (SS7) for call setup and termination. It will beunderstood, however, that embodiments of the present invention are notlimited to SS7 networks or any particular Common Channel Signaling (CCS)network, but instead may be embodied generally as any networkarchitecture capable of carrying out the operations described herein. Inaddition, some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated inthe context of a circuit switched communication network, such as thepublic switched telephone network (PSTN). It will be understood,however, that embodiments of the present invention are not limited toany particular type of communication network, but can be embodied invarious types of communication networks including, but not limited to,circuit switched networks and packet switched networks, such as VoiceOver Internet Protocol (VoIP) networks.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary network architecture 100, inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention, comprisesService Switching Points (SSPs) 110 a and 110 b that terminate customerequipment (CE) 115 a and 115 b, respectively. It will be understood thatCE 115 a and 115 b may represent one or more devices that may be used tooriginate and or terminate a call over a communication network, such asthe public switched telephone network (PSTN). The SS7 network 100further comprises an SSP 120 that is connected to another network, suchas a wireless network 125, by, for example, trunk lines/channels. Thewireless network terminates CE 130, which may represent one or moremobile terminals. As used herein, the term “mobile terminal or device”may include a satellite or cellular radiotelephone with or without amulti-line display; a Personal Communications System (PCS) terminal thatmay combine a cellular radiotelephone with data processing, facsimileand data communications capabilities; a PDA that can include aradiotelephone, pager, Internet/intranet access, Web browser, organizer,calendar and/or a global positioning system (GPS) receiver; and aconventional laptop and/or palmtop receiver or other appliance thatincludes a radiotelephone transceiver. Mobile terminals may also bereferred to as “pervasive computing” devices.

SSPs 110 a and 110 b are switches that originate, terminate, and routecalls and provide entry into the SS7 network. SSPs 110 a and 110 b maybe called “local exchange” switches because they terminate connectionsto end-users and, as shown in FIG. 1, optionally include trunkconnection(s) between each other. SSP 120 may be called a “tandemexchange” because it does not terminate connections to end users, butinstead terminates only trunks to other SSPs (e.g., SSP 110 b) or thewireless network 125, for example. SSPs 110 a and 110 b may be referredto as Class 5 switching systems while SSP 120 may be referred to as aClass 4 switching system.

In an SS7 network, SSPs send signaling messages to other SSPs to setup,manage, and release network resources to complete calls/connections. Thesignaling traffic between SSPs is carried by one or more Signal TransferPoints (STPs). As shown in FIG. 1, STPs 135 a and 135 b may be used toSS7 signaling messages between SSPs 110 a and 110 b and/or to other SSPsnot shown in FIG. 1. An STP is typically embodied as a packet switchthat routes each incoming message to an outgoing signaling link based onrouting information contained in the SS7 message.

The SS7 network 100 further comprises Signal Control Points (SCPs) 140 aand 140 b, which may optionally be used to provide Intelligent Network(IN) services by allowing the SSPs in the SS7 network to access the SCPsvia special signaling messages.

The trunks between SSPs 110 a and 110 b and/or between 110 b and 120 maybe subject to congestion, which may result in service qualitydegradation. In accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention, a traffic grooming function 145 may be configured to identifypeak bandwidth usage for specific trunks or trunk groups in the network100 to identify the lines, ports, and or channels that contribute toover utilization of various ones of the trunks. Once the usage patternsare determined, specific lines, ports, and/or channels may be reassignedto various trunks to provide smoother network performance and fewerbandwidth peaks. This may allow a service provider to postponepurchasing additional benefit in response to traffic demands until alater date.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, thetraffic grooming function 145 may be implemented as a single server,separate servers, or a network of servers either co-located in a serverfarm, for example, or located in different geographic locations.Moreover, the traffic grooming function may be implemented as part ofone or more of the SSPs or as part of the SS7 infrastructure, i.e., oneor more of the STPs. The various elements of the communication network100 may be connected by a global network, such as the Internet or otherpublicly accessible network. Various elements of the network may beinterconnected by a wide area network, a local area network, anIntranet, and/or other private network, which may not accessible by thegeneral public. Thus, the communication network 100 may represent acombination of public and private networks or a virtual private network.Although FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communication network, it willbe understood that the present invention is not limited to suchconfigurations, but is intended to encompass any configuration capableof carrying out the operations described herein.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a data processing system 200 that may be usedto implement the traffic grooming function of FIG. 1, in accordance withsome embodiments of the present invention, comprises input device(s)202, such as a keyboard or keypad, a display 204, and a memory 206 thatcommunicate with a processor 208. The data processing system 200 mayfurther include a storage system 210, a speaker 212, and an input/output(I/O) data port(s) 214 that also communicate with the processor 208. Thestorage system 210 may include removable and/or fixed media, such asfloppy disks, ZIP drives, hard disks, or the like, as well as virtualstorage, such as a RAMDISK. The I/O data port(s) 214 may be used totransfer information between the data processing system 200 and anothercomputer system or a network (e.g., the Internet). These components maybe conventional components, such as those used in many conventionalcomputing devices, and their functionality, with respect to conventionaloperations, is generally known to those skilled in the art. The memory206 may be configured with a trunk utilization monitor/data analyzer 216that can be used to collect trunk utilization data for various sharedfacilities in a communication network, analyze the shared facilityutilization data to determine the utilization of the lines, ports,and/or channels that contribute to the utilization of the sharedfacility, and generate a grooming proposal to improve the overallutilization of trunks or shared facilities in the communication network.

FIG. 3 illustrates a processor 300 and memory 305 that may be used inembodiments of the traffic grooming function 145 of FIG. 1 and dataprocessing system 200 of FIG. 2 in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present invention. The processor 300 communicates with the memory305 via an address/data bus 310. The processor 300 may be, for example,a commercially available or custom microprocessor. The memory 305 isrepresentative of the one or more memory devices containing the softwareand data used for monitoring DSL lines through a DSLAM and analyzing thecollected data, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention. The memory 305 may include, but is not limited to, thefollowing types of devices: cache, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash,SRAM, and DRAM.

As shown in FIG. 3, the memory 305 may contain up to five or morecategories of software and/or data: an operating system 315, a trunkutilization and data collection module 320, a trunk data analysis module325, a provisioning module 330, and a data module 335. The operatingsystem 315 generally controls the operation of the traffic groomingfunction 145. In particular, the operating system 315 may manage thetraffic grooming function's software and/or hardware resources and maycoordinate execution of programs by the processor 300. The trunkutilization and data collection module 320 may be configured to monitorthe utilization of various trunks and/or shared facilities in acommunication network and store the data in the data module 335. Thetrunk data analysis module 325 may be configured to perform astatistical analysis on the trunk/shared facility utilization datacollected by the trunk utilization and data collection module 320. Theprovisioning module 330 may be configured to generate a traffic-groomingproposal for the trunks and/or shared facilities in the network toimprove the overall utilization of the trunks and/or shared facilities.

Although FIG. 3 illustrates exemplary hardware/software architecturesthat may be used in the traffic grooming function of FIG. 1, it will beunderstood that the present invention is not limited to such aconfiguration but is intended to encompass any configuration capable ofcarrying out operations described herein. Moreover, the functionality ofthe data processing system 200 of FIG. 2 and the hardware/softwarearchitectures of FIG. 3 may be implemented as a single processor system,a multi-processor system, or even a network of stand-alone computersystems, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of data processingsystems discussed above with respect to FIG. 2 and/or the softwaremodules discussed above with respect to FIG. 3 may be written in ahigh-level programming language, such as Java, C, and/or C++, fordevelopment convenience. In addition, computer program code for carryingout operations of embodiments of the present invention may also bewritten in other programming languages, such as, but not limited to,interpreted languages. Some modules or routines may be written inassembly language or even micro-code to enhance performance and/ormemory usage. It will be further appreciated that the functionality ofany or all of the program modules may also be implemented using discretehardware components, one or more application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), or a programmed digital signal processor ormicrocontroller.

The present invention is described herein with reference to flowchartand/or block diagram illustrations of methods, systems, and computerprogram products in accordance with exemplary embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart and/orblock diagram illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchartand/or block diagram illustrations, may be implemented by computerprogram instructions and/or hardware operations. These computer programinstructions may be provided to a processor of a general purposecomputer, a special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions,which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functionsspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerusable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable orcomputer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture includinginstructions that implement the function specified in the flowchartand/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions that execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Exemplary operations for identifying peak bandwidth usage for specificresources, such as trunks, trunk groups, and/or shared facilities in acommunication network and identifying the lines, ports, and or channelsthat contribute to over utilization of various ones of the resources, inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention, will now bedescribed. Operations begin at block 400 where the trunk utilization anddata collection module 320 monitors the utilization of various trunks inthe communication network periodically, such as, for example, every 15minutes. At block 405, the trunk data analysis module 325 detects theutilization peak P of each monitored trunk during each hour. Theoperations of blocks 400 and 405 may be repeated for several days, e.g.,N_(d) days, to collect enough data for a statistical analysis.

At block 410 the trunk data analysis module 425 calculates the mean andthe coefficient of variance of each peak during each hour of a day. Thecoefficient of variance is used to normalize the variance value becauseit measures the spread of a set of data as a proportion of its mean. Themean utilization peak and the utilization peak variance are given belowas Equations 1 and 2:

$\begin{matrix}{\overset{\_}{P} = \frac{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N_{d}}P_{j}}{N_{d}}} & {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 1} \\{S_{P}^{1} = {\frac{1}{\left( {N_{d} - 1} \right)}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N_{d}}\left( {{P\; i} - \overset{\_}{P}} \right)^{1}}}} & {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 2}\end{matrix}$

Equation 2, however, is a theoretical formula of the variance. Thecomputational formula for the utilization peak variance is given byEquation 3 below:

$\begin{matrix}{S_{P}^{2} = \frac{{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N_{d}}P_{i}^{2}} - \frac{\left( {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N_{d}}P_{i}} \right)^{2}}{N_{d}}}{N_{d} - 1}} & {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 3}\end{matrix}$

The utilization peak coefficient of variance is given by Equation 4below:

$\begin{matrix}{C_{P} = \frac{S_{P}^{2}}{\overset{\_}{P}}} & {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 4}\end{matrix}$

At block 415, the trunk utilization and data collection module 320monitors the utilization of all lines, ports, and/or channels associatedwith each trunk and/or shared facility at each peak hour if the meanutilization peak value for the trunk and/or shared facility exceeds athreshold, such as 75%.

The trunk utilization and data collection module 320 sorts the lines,ports, and/or channels based on their utilization level and thencalculates the percentage M of the contributors that consume at least50% of its mean utilization peak. Thus, M is given by Equation 5 below:

$\begin{matrix}{M = {\frac{D}{N}*100}} & {{EQ}.\mspace{14mu} 5}\end{matrix}$where D is the number of lines, ports, and/or channels running on eachtrunk and/or shared facility and consume at least 50% of its meanutilization peak and N is the total number of lines, ports, and/orchannels running on each trunk and/or shared facility.

Based on the percentage M and the peak coefficient of variance and themean utilization peak, the trunk data analysis module 325 classifieseach trunk and/or facility into one of a plurality of categories atblock 420 based on various thresholds that can be defined by a serviceprovider. In the example shown below, six categories A through F aredefined as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{{{{\overset{\_}{P}>={75\%\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu} U_{\infty}}}\&}\mspace{14mu} C_{P}}>={15\left. \%\longrightarrow A \right.}} \\{{{{\overset{\_}{P}>={75\%\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu} U_{\infty}}}\&}\mspace{14mu} C_{P}} < {15\left. \%\longrightarrow B \right.}} \\{{{{\overset{\_}{P} < {75\%\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu} U_{\infty}}}\&}\mspace{14mu} M} < {25\left. \%\longrightarrow C \right.}} \\{{{\overset{\_}{P} < {75\%\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu} U_{\infty}}}\&}\mspace{14mu}\left. \left( {{50\%} > M>={25\%}} \right)\longrightarrow D \right.} \\{{{\overset{\_}{P} < {75\%\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu} U_{\infty}}}\&}\mspace{14mu}\left. \left( {{70\%} > M>={50\%}} \right)\longrightarrow E \right.} \\{{{{\overset{\_}{P} < {75\%\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu} U_{\infty}}}\&}\mspace{14mu} M}>={70\left. \%\longrightarrow F \right.}}\end{matrix}$

Where U_(m) is the maximum possible utilization of each backbone trunk.

The trunk data analysis module may, at block 425, determine whether togroom the traffic carried by the trunks, trunk groups, and/or sharedfacilities based on thresholds applied to the categories defined atblock 420. In some embodiments, if the number of trunks classified ingroup A is more than zero or the sum of trunks classified in groups Band C is more than 35% and less than 50% of all of the trunks in thenetwork, then a grooming proposal will be generated. If, however, thesum of trunks in groups A, B, and C is more than 50% of the total of allprovisioned trunks in the network, then it is generally desirable to addnew bandwidth.

At block 430, the provisioning module 330 may generate a groomingproposal based on the analysis performed at block 425. In someembodiments, the grooming proposal may include re-provisioning the worstlines, ports, and channels contributing to the utilization of thehighest utilized trunk or facility to the lowest utilized trunk orfacility. The lines, ports, and/or channels may be selected based on twocriteria in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention: 1) they should be among those lines, ports, and/or channelshaving among the lowest utilizations; and 2) they should not be amongthose lines, ports, and/or channels having among the highestutilizations at other times of day. A goal may be to bring each overutilized trunk or facility to about 50% or less of its maximum possibleutilization. The number of lines, ports, and/or channels N_(p) that needre-provisioning may be calculated based on Equation 6 below:U _(p)=P−0.5*U _(w)  EQ. 6Where N_(p) is the number of lines, ports, and/or channels running oneach trunk and/or facility and consume N_(p) of its maximum possibleutilization, where Equation 7 holds below:P<0.5*U _(w)|  EQ. 7This may reduce the number of lines, ports, and/or channels that arere-provisioned while still smoothing network bandwidth demand andconsumption.

The operations of FIG. 4 can be repeated if the lines, ports, and/orchannels have not been re-provisioned should conditions change and it isdesired to obtain an alternative grooming proposal. Otherwise, once thelines, ports, and/or channels have been re-provisioned, the operationsof FIG. 4 can resume so as to possibly generate a new grooming proposalshould traffic conditions in the network change over time.

Thus, some embodiments of the present invention may provide an automatedsystem and method to determine whether network grooming or adding newbandwidth is desired in response to changing bandwidth demands in thenetwork. Network traffic introduced by monitoring operations may also bereduced as traffic monitoring may be limited to peak utilization timesfor each trunk and/or shared facility. Moreover, the number of groomingorders and lines, ports, and/or channels may be reduced while stillsmoothing out bandwidth demand and consumption.

Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodimentsdescribed herein without substantially departing from the principles ofthe present invention. All such variations and modifications areintended to be included herein within the scope of the presentinvention, as set forth in the following claims.

1. A method of operating a communication network, comprising: monitoringa bandwidth utilization of a shared network resource; performing astatistical analysis to determine at least one of a mean utilizationpeak and a utilization peak coefficient of variance; monitoring at leastone of a bandwidth utilization of lines, ports, and channels associatedwith the shared network resource; performing a statistical analysis todetermine at least one of a percentage (M) of the lines, ports, andchannels whose consumption of bandwidth exceeds a first thresholdpercentage of the mean utilization peak; and determining whether togroom traffic carried by the shared network resource based on thepercentage (M).
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring thebandwidth utilization of the shared network resource comprisesmonitoring the bandwidth utilization of the shared network resource overa time period periodically at a defined frequency.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the time period is greater than one day and thefrequency is about once every 15 minutes.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein monitoring the bandwidth utilization of at least one of thelines, ports, and channels comprises monitoring the bandwidthutilization of at least one of the lines, ports, and channels if themean utilization peak exceeds a second threshold percentage.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the first threshold percentage is about 50%and the second threshold percentage is about 75%.
 6. The method of claim1, further comprising: categorizing the shared network resource into oneof the following categories: category A if P is greater than about 75%of Um and Cp is greater than about 15%; category B if P is greater thanabout 75% of Um and Cp is less than about 15%; category C if P is lessthan about 75% of Um and M is less than about 25%; category D if P isless than about 75% of Um and M is greater than about 25%, but less thanabout 50%; category E if P is less than about 75% of Um and M is greaterthan about 50%, but less than about 70%; and category F if P is lessthan about 75% of Um and M is greater than about 70%; wherein Um is amaximum possible bandwidth utilization of the shared network resource, Pis the mean utilization peak, and Cp is the utilization peak coefficientof variance.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining whether togroom the traffic carried by the shared network resource comprisesdetermining whether to groom traffic based on a number of sharedresources in the communication network that have been categorized in atleast one of categories A, B, and C.
 8. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising: grooming the traffic carried by the shared network resourceif the number of shared resources in category A is greater than zero orif the sum of the numbers of shared resources in categories B and C isgreater than about 35% and less than about 50% of all the sharedresources in the communication network.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein grooming the traffic comprises re-provisioning at least one ofthe lines, ports, and channels associated with the shared networkresource.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein re-provisioning at leastone of the lines, ports, and channels associated with the shared networkresource comprises selecting the at least one of the lines, ports, andchannels that has a lower than average bandwidth utilization and has alower than average peak bandwidth utilization.
 11. A computer programproduct comprising a computer readable medium having computer readableprogram code embodied therein, the computer readable program code beingconfigured to implement the method of claim
 1. 12. A traffic managementsystem for a communication network, comprising: a traffic groomingsystem that is configured to monitor a bandwidth utilization of a sharednetwork resource, perform a statistical analysis to determine at leastone of a mean utilization peak and a utilization peak coefficient ofvariance, monitor at least one of a bandwidth utilization of lines,ports, and channels associated with the shared network resource, performa statistical analysis to determine at least one of a percentage (M) ofthe lines, ports, and channels whose consumption of bandwidth exceeds afirst threshold percentage of the mean utilization peak, and determinewhether to groom traffic carried by the shared network resource based onthe percentage (M).
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the trafficgrooming system is further configured to monitor the bandwidthutilization of the shared network resource over a time periodperiodically at a defined frequency.
 14. The system of claim 13, whereinthe time is period greater than one day and the frequency is about onceevery 15 minutes.
 15. The system of claim 12, wherein the trafficgrooming system is further configured to monitor the bandwidthutilization of at least one of the lines, ports, and channels if themean utilization peak exceeds a second threshold percentage.
 16. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the first threshold percentage is about 50%and the second threshold percentage is about 75%.
 17. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the traffic grooming system is further configured tocategorize the shared network resource into one of the followingcategories: category A if P is greater than about 75% of Um and Cp isgreater than about 15%; category B if P is greater than about 75% of Umand Cp is less than about 15%; category C if P is less than about 75% ofUm and M is less than about 25%; category D if P is less than about 75%of Um and M is greater than about 25%, but less than about 50%; categoryE if P is less than about 75% of Um and M is greater than about 50%, butless than about 70%; and category F if P is less than about 75% of Umand M is greater than about 70%; wherein Um is a maximum possiblebandwidth utilization of the shared network resource, P is the meanutilization peak, and Cp is the utilization peak coefficient ofvariance.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the traffic groomingsystem is further configured to determine whether to groom the trafficcarried by the shared network resource based on a number of sharedresources in the communication network that have been categorized in atleast one of categories A, B, and C.
 19. The system of claim 18, whereinthe traffic grooming system is further configured to groom the trafficcarried by the shared network resource if the number of shared resourcesin category A is greater than zero or if the sum of the numbers ofshared resources in categories B and C is greater than about 35% andless than about 50% of all the shared resources in the communicationnetwork.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the traffic grooming systemis further configured to groom the traffic by re-provisioning at leastone of the lines, ports, and channels associated with the shared networkresource.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein the traffic groomingsystem is further configured to re-provision at least one of the lines,ports, and channels associated with the shared network resource byselecting the at least one of the lines, ports, and channels that has alower than average bandwidth utilization and has a lower than averagepeak bandwidth utilization.